I'm hoping Romney gets to shine like a bright sunny day and gets across whatever it is he wants to say, once and for all, so that the American people can properly reject him without having to hear all the excuses about Rommey's poor debate performance.
Chris Christie says Mitt is going to shine and come Thursday, it will be a new day.
Frankly, I don't think anyone watches the debates to make up their minds. It's more like a sporting event, where you root for your team. Even if Obama makes a mistake, I'm not going to vote for Romney.
The polls may tighten after the debate, especially if Mitt manages to pull himself together, but it's probably too late for him. That's not just because he's running a lousy campaign. He's a lousy candidate, the best of a bunch of conservative losers — Rick Perry, Newt Gingrich, Rick Santorum... Please. Republicans should be ashamed of what they offered the American people. They're still the small-minded party they've been since Obama took office.

Republicans should lose for many reason this go around, first and foremost because their candidate is sub par. But there are plenty of other reasons, such as throwing their money around to try and buy elections, voters and judges.

The new stealth campaign against three Florida Supreme Court justices is being backed by those meddling right-wing billionaires from Wichita, Charles and David Koch.

They couldn’t care less about Florida, but they love to throw their money around.

Last week they uncorked the first of a series of commercials from their political action committee, Americans for Prosperity. The targets are Justices R. Fred Lewis, Barbara Pariente and Peggy Quince.

They were three of the five-vote majority that in 2010 knocked down a half-baked amendment slapped together by state lawmakers seeking to nullify the federal Affordable Health Care Act.

The Florida Supreme Court upheld lower court decisions in finding that the proposed amendment contained “misleading and ambiguous language,” the hallmark of practically everything produced by this Legislature. Stoned chimpanzees have a keener grasp of constitutional law.
Read more at Miami Herald

If you're unfamiliar with the Koch Brothers, here's a link to more info.

Here's an informative video. Jane Mayer says they are radical libertarians. The Koch Brothers are the tea party:

Does anyone think that republicans unwittingly hired this company? Romney must win Florida or he must win Ohio and a bunch of other states. The GOP has been doing what it accuses the democrats of doing. Isn't that always how it is with liars and cheaters.

What first appeared to be an isolated problem in one Florida county has now spread statewide, with election officials in nine counties informing prosecutors or state election officials about questionable voter registration forms filled out on behalf of the Republican Party of Florida.

State Republican officials already have fired the vendor it had hired to register voters, and took the additional step of filing an election fraud complaint against the company, Strategic Allied Consulting, with state officials. That complaint was handed over Friday to state law-enforcement authorities.

...

The Republican Party of Florida has paid Strategic Allied Consulting more than $1.3 million, and the Republican National Committee used the group for work in Nevada, North Carolina, Colorado and Virginia.
AP

This is why the republicans have resorted to stealing from the American people (source):

The recession during the Reagan years wasn't anything like the recession Obama was handed. Republicans keep trying to make the recessions equal, as if we're all that stupid. It's why the right-wing media uses Obama vs. Reagan recovery charts instead of recession charts, an effort to try and fool the masses.

The recession Obama was handed was much more complex than anything Reagan had to deal with. The 2007 recession, the Great Recession, was the worst of all time, next to the depression. The recession revealed a number of structural problems with our economy, a greater divide between the rich and the poor and an economy in transition.

The late President Ronald Reagan looms large over this year's presidential election. GOP candidates invoke him as the visionary who revived a flattened economy with lower taxes, easier regulations and smaller government. That's what the economy needs today to bring back the growth of the 1980s, say his acolytes. Yet the Republican argument leaves out one important factor: President Barack Obama's recession is a lot more complicated than the one Reagan tussled with in 1981.

Superficially, their predicaments are similar. Both presided over economic downturns considered to be the worst since the Great Depression. They lost congressional support in midterm elections and were presiding over economic recoveries as they geared up for re-election campaigns. Read more at Bloomberg

Watch this 2 minute video, which charts the recessions throughout history. You'll note how severe the 2007 recession was, compared to Reagan's recession. The recession during Reagan's time was sunshine and rainbows compared with what Obama had to deal with:

Haley Barbour tried to equate the Reagan recession with the 2007 recession, the one Obama was handed. This makes me livid, because he knows better, but he thinks the rest of us don't. The mainstream media lacks the business, financial and economic savvy to call republicans on their claims.

On Wed., Oct. 3, Obama will travel from Henderson, Nevada to Denver, Colorado for the first Presidential Debate at the University of Denver. FLOTUS will join Obama in Denver. The debate will be aired all over your TVs and the Internet.

Michelle and I were saddened today to hear about the passing of Arthur Sulzberger. Over the course of more than 30 years, Arthur helped transform the New York Times and secure its status as one of the most successful and respected newspapers in the world. He was a firm believer in the importance of a free and independent press - one that isn't afraid to seek the truth, hold those in power accountable, and tell the stories that need to be told. Arthur's legacy lives on in the newspaper he loved and the journalists he inspired. Our thoughts and prayers are with his family.

The thing about not having much money is you have to take much more responsibility for your life. You can’t pay people to watch your kids or clean your house or fix your meals. You can’t necessarily afford a car or a washing machine or a home in a good school district. That’s what money buys you: goods and services that make your life easier, that give you time and space to focus on what you want to focus on.

That’s what money has bought Romney, too. He’s a guy who sold his dad’s stock to pay for college, who built an elevator to ensure easier access to his multiple cars and who was able to support his wife’s decision to be a stay-at-home mom. That’s great! That’s the dream.

The problem is living the dream has blinded him to other people’s reality. His comments evince no understanding of how difficult it is to focus on college when you’re also working full time, how much planning it takes to reliably commute to work without a car, how awful it is to choose between skipping a day on a job you can’t afford to lose and letting your sick child fend for herself. The working poor haven’t abdicated responsibility for their lives. They’re drowning in it.

If you listen to right winger Mike Gallagher in the audio clip, what's striking is he represents many people who viscerally hate Obama so much that they can't comprehend why anyone would vote for Obama. These are people who have been living in another reality, one that's fantasy, one where Obama was born in Kenya and Obama always golfs and Obama is always on vacation and Obama is lazy. All of these criticisms are untrue and add up to plain and simple fear of a black president. These people hate Obama so much they need Fox News, they need someone to tell them the polling is wrong, they need fiction, not truth, so they can get through their miserable and pathetic days. For people who don't like government, they spend most of their days thinking about government. It's a scapegoat.

We are all invested in China, especially when we buy cheap goods at places like Wal-Mart. Our demand for lower prices helped China become a manufacturing hub. China owns a lot of our debt as well. Still, Romney has or had significant investments in China, even in China government-owned businesses. It's not his investments in China that are so bad, it's the hypocrisy, saying that he's going to crack down on China....
From the Washington Post:

Still, Romney’s investments are strikingly more international than President Obama’s, based on financial disclosures from both candidates.

Romney’s tax returns released this month show that the candidate’s individual trust last year sold off thousands of shares in seven Chinese corporations, including some state-owned firms, for a profit of more than $8,600.

The Chinese firms are among more than 1,000 companies Romney’s blind trust and his family’s trust invested in and later sold in 2011, according to the tax returns. The companies span the globe, ranging from the French aircraft manufacture Dassault Aviation to Canadian yoga clothing retailer Lululemon. WaPo

Obama's investments:

Obama’s investments are squarely domestic.

Based on a public financial disclosure report, the president holds $1 million to $5 million in U.S. Treasury notes, which are sold with terms of two, three, five, seven and 10 years. He also holds $600,000 to $1.25 million in Treasury bills, which have terms of one year or less.

Obama also has $200,000 to $450,000 invested in a Vanguard 500 index fund, which invests in 500 of the largest U.S. companies. WaPo

Friday, September 28, 2012

I don't think the Romneys are equipped for the undertaking of a very big office. You have to be so much more than a businessman. Ann, especially, looks tired. I feel for her. This sort of seems like she's waving a white flag.

Ann Romney told a Nevada television station her biggest concern if her husband, Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney, becomes president was his "mental well-being."

In an interview Thursday with television station KTVN, Mrs. Romney was asked what her biggest worry was should Mitt Romney be elected to serve in the White House.

"I think my biggest concern obviously would just be for his mental well-being," she said. "I have all the confidence in the world in his ability, in his decisiveness, in his leadership skills, in his understanding of the economy. ... So for me I think it would just be the emotional part of it." Reuters

While Ann fears for husband's mental health, here are some people Mitt and Ann ought to be spending time with, gaining some empathy and understanding:

President Barack Obama blocked on Friday a privately owned Chinese company from building wind turbines close to a Navy military site in Oregon due to national security concerns, and the company said it would challenge the action in court. More at Reuters

From the Treasury department:

The President issued an order prohibiting the acquisition and ownership of four wind farm project companies by Ralls Corporation, its owners, its subsidiaries, and its affiliates. The order directs Ralls Corporation to divest its interest in the wind farm project companies that it acquired earlier this year, and to take other actions related to the divestment. Ralls Corporation is owned by Chinese nationals, and is affiliated with a Chinese construction equipment company that manufactures wind turbines. The wind farm sites are all within or in the vicinity of restricted air space at Naval Weapons Systems Training Facility Boardman in Oregon.

Obama's executive order:

Order Signed by the President regarding the Acquisition of Four U.S. Wind Farm Project Companies by Ralls Corporation

ORDER

- - - - - - -

REGARDING THE ACQUISITION OF FOUR U.S. WIND FARM PROJECT COMPANIES BY RALLS CORPORATION

By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, including section 721 of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended (section 721), 50 U.S.C. App. 2170,

Section 1. Findings. I hereby make the following findings:

(a) There is credible evidence that leads me to believe that Ralls Corporation (Ralls), a corporation organized under the laws of Delaware, and its subsidiaries, and the Sany Group (which includes Sany Electric and Sany Heavy Industries), a Chinese company affiliated with Ralls (together, the Companies); and, Mr. Dawei Duan (Mr. Duan) and Mr. Jialing Wu (Mr. Wu), citizens of the People's Republic of China and senior executives of the Sany Group, who together own Ralls; through exercising control of Lower Ridge Windfarm, LLC, High Plateau Windfarm, LLC, Mule Hollow Windfarm, LLC, and Pine City Windfarm, LLC (collectively, the Project Companies), all limited liability companies organized under the laws of Oregon, might take action that threatens to impair the national security of the United States; and

(b) Provisions of law, other than section 721 and the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (50 U.S.C. 1701 et seq.), do not, in my judgment, provide adequate and appropriate authority for me to protect the national security in this matter.

Sec. 2. Actions Ordered and Authorized. On the basis of the findings set forth in section 1 of this order, considering the factors described in subsection 721(f), as appropriate, and pursuant to my authority under applicable law, including section 721, I hereby order that:

(a) The transaction resulting in the acquisition of the Project Companies and their assets by the Companies or Mr. Wu or Mr. Duan is hereby prohibited, and ownership by the Companies or Mr. Wu or Mr. Duan of any interest in the Project Companies and their assets, whether directly or indirectly through owners, subsidiaries, or affiliates, is prohibited.

(b) In order to effectuate this order, Ralls shall divest all interests in:

(iii) any operations developed, held, or controlled, whether directly or indirectly, by the Project Companies at the time of, or since, their acquisition

not later than 90 days after the date of this order, unless such date is extended for a period not to exceed three (3) months, on such written conditions as the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) may require. Immediately upon divestment, Ralls shall certify in writing to CFIUS that such divestment has been effected in accordance with this order.

(c) No later than 14 calendar days from the date of this order, the Companies shall:

(i) remove from the properties on which the Companies have proposed to construct wind farms (including alternate sites) that are identified in the notice filed with CFIUS (Properties) all items, structures, or other physical objects or installations of any kind (including concrete foundations) that the Companies or persons on behalf of the Companies have stockpiled, stored, deposited, installed, or affixed thereon; and

(ii) provide CFIUS with a statement signed by Mr. Duan and Mr. Wu certifying that the Companies have completed such removal.

(d) The Companies, and any persons acting for or on behalf of the Companies, including officers, employees, and owners, shall cease all access, and will not have any access, to the Properties. Notwithstanding the foregoing, individuals that are U.S. citizens contracted by the Companies and approved by CFIUS may access the Properties solely for purposes of fulfilling the requirements of subsection (c) of this section.

(e) The Companies, Mr. Duan, and Mr. Wu shall not sell or otherwise transfer, or propose to sell or otherwise transfer, or otherwise facilitate the sale or transfer of, any items made or otherwise produced by the Sany Group to any third party for use or installation at the Properties.

(f) Ralls shall not complete a sale or transfer of the Project Companies or their assets to any third party until:

(i) all items, structures, or other physical objects or installations of any kind (including concrete foundations) that the Companies or persons on behalf of the Companies have stockpiled, stored, deposited, installed, or affixed on the Properties have been removed from the Properties and the Department of Defense has notified the Companies that it has verified the Companies' certification of such removal provided pursuant to subsection (c) of this section;

(ii) Ralls notifies CFIUS in writing of the intended recipient or buyer; and

(iii) Ralls has not received a provisional or final objection from CFIUS to the intended recipient or buyer within 10 business days of the notification in subsection f(ii) of this section. Among the factors CFIUS may consider in reviewing the proposed sale or transfer are whether the buyer or transferee: is a U.S. citizen or is owned by U.S. citizens; has or has had a direct or indirect contractual, financial, familial, employment, or other close and continuous relationship with the Companies or Project Companies, or their officers, employees, or owners; and can demonstrate a willingness and ability to support compliance with this order.

(g) From the date of this order until Ralls provides a certification of divestment to CFIUS pursuant to subsection (b) of this section, the Companies shall certify to CFIUS on a monthly basis that they are in compliance with this order.

(h) Without limitation on the exercise of authority by any agency under other provisions of law, and until such time as the divestment is completed and verified to the satisfaction of CFIUS, CFIUS is authorized to implement measures it deems necessary and appropriate to verify that operations of the Project Companies are carried out in such a manner as to ensure protection of the national security interests of the United States. Such measures may include but are not limited to the following: on reasonable notice to the Project Companies and the Companies, employees of the United States Government, as designated by CFIUS, shall be permitted access, for purposes of verifying compliance with this order, to all premises and facilities of the Project Companies and the Companies located in the United States:

(i) to inspect and copy any books, ledgers, accounts, correspondence, memoranda, and other records and documents in the possession or under the control of the Companies or the Project Companies that concern any matter relating to this order;

(ii) to inspect any equipment and technical data (including software) in the possession or under the control of the Companies or the Project Companies; and

(iii) to interview officers, employees, or agents of the Companies or the Project Companies concerning any matter relating to this order.

CFIUS shall conclude its verification procedures within 90 days after the divestment is completed.

(i) The Attorney General is authorized to take any steps necessary to enforce this order.

Sec. 3. Revocation of Prior Orders. CFIUS's Order Establishing Interim Mitigation Measures of July 25, 2012, and Amended Order Establishing Interim Mitigation Measures of August 2, 2012, are hereby revoked.

Sec. 4. Reservation. I hereby reserve my authority to issue further orders with respect to the Companies or the Project Companies as shall in my judgment be necessary to protect the national security.

Sec. 5. Publication and Transmittal.

(a) This order shall be published in the Federal Register.

(b) I hereby direct the Secretary of the Treasury to transmit a copy of this order to the appropriate parties named in section 1 of this order.

President Obama and Prime Minister Netanyahu spoke today as part of their regular consultations, and to follow up on Secretary Clinton’s meeting with the Prime Minister. The two leaders discussed a range of security issues, and the President reaffirmed his and our country’s unshakeable commitment to Israel’s security. The two leaders underscored that they are in full agreement on the shared goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon. The Prime Minister welcomed President Obama’s commitment before the United Nations General Assembly to do what we must to achieve that goal. The two leaders took note of the close cooperation and coordination between the Governments of the United States and Israel regarding the threat posed by Iran – its nuclear program, proliferation, and support for terrorism – and agreed to continue their regular consultations on this issue going forward.

Climate Change. CO2 emissions are linked to changing our climate.
Note that Mitt doesn't believe there is a consensus on climate change. That's what he told Scientific American. Read it for yourself. Another thing, as a businessman, profits come before the environment. We really haven't heard Romney say much about the environment at all, when everything is linked to it -- the economy, our very existence.

"The science around our industry has already told us a sad story," said Taylor spokesman Bill Dewey. "Our fate is sealed for the next several decades. Even if we change our CO2 emission policies today and stop the assault, [scientists] have told us it's probably going to get worse for the next 50 years before it gets better."
He and other experts who gathered in Monterey this week say they fear the fate of the Pacific Northwest's oysters is the first hint of widespread disruption of marine ecosystems and commercial fisheries that is likely to result as CO2 sours the world's seas. Scientific American

Ryan's ties to these severely conservative money people is probably why he was chosen for Mitt. From the NYT:

Mr. Ryan is one of a very few elected officials who have attended the Kochs’ biannual conferences, where wealthy donors sit in on seminars on runaway government spending and the myths of climate change.

He is on first-name terms with prominent libertarians in the financial world, including hedge fund billionaires like Cliff Asness and Paul Singer, and spent his formative years immersed in the Republican Party’s supply-side wing, working for lawmakers and conservative policy advocates like Jack Kemp.

He has appeared for years at rallies, town hall meetings, and donor briefings for groups like the Club for Growth, which spends millions to defeat Republicans deemed squishy on taxes and spending, and Americans for Prosperity, a grass-roots group focused on economic and budget issues that is now trying to channel Tea Party energy into a permanent electoral force. Its fourth chapter was founded in Mr. Ryan’s home state, Wisconsin. NYT

He wasn't arrested for his really bad film that incited the violence that killed our ambassador and three other Americans -- freedom of speech -- he was arrested for violating his probation agreement.

The alleged filmmaker, Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, was to be arraigned Thursday afternoon in a Los Angeles federal courtroom.

The United States Probation Office filed a request to revoke Mr. Nakoula's supervised release, alleging he violated terms he agreed to following his bank fraud conviction in 2010, a spokesman for the U.S. attorney's office in Los Angeles said. Under his probation agreement, Mr. Nakoula was prohibited from using computers and the Internet without supervision. WSJ

Bain harvested companies, meaning it squeezed out profits -- NOT jobs. I don't understand how Mitt's Bain experience in any way makes him qualified to be president. Just not making the connection. Mother Jones dug up an oldie.

The Republican National Committee has fired a controversial consulting firm it was paying millions of dollars to conduct voter registration in five battleground states, NBC News has learned.

The move came after the Palm Beach County, Fla., elections supervisor discovered 108 potentially fraudulent registration forms submitted by the GOP consulting firm, including suspected phony signatures and home addresses that matched those of a gas station, a medical building and a Land Rover dealership.

NBC News has learned that four other Florida counties have also reported hundreds of possible fraudulent registration forms submitted by the firm, including apparent dead people being registered as new voters. NBC

Imagine if Michelle Obama said we can't take Mitt Romney. Never would happen. Queen Ann is still trying to convince people that Mitt cares. I'm sure Mitt cares about friends and family. I'm just not sure he's capable of caring about the nation and people who don't live in his bubble world. Watch part 2 of Queen Ann's remarks in Reno here.

President Barack Obama's job approval rating has been 50% or higher in each of the last four Gallup Daily tracking figures, including a 51% rating in the latest three-day rolling average, from Sept. 23-25. This nearly matches the level of approval for Obama that Gallup found at the end of the Democratic National Convention earlier this month. His approval then dipped into the 40s by mid-month before rebounding to 51% late last week. Gallup

Romney's trying to be like Obama now, talking about empathy and healthcare and such. Romney's probably learned, via polls, that there aren't enough rightwing types in America to elect him.

This election is not what was expected. Krugman speculates it might have to do with healthcare:

A brief, mostly subjective note: This really isn’t looking like the election anyone expected. Obviously it’s not the election Romney and the Republicans expected and wanted; but it’s also looking very different from what Democrats expected.

What Romney & Co. expected was a simple rejection of Obama because of the weak economy. As Greg Sargent often reminds us, this isn’t how it has played at all. On one side, voters tend to react to recent trends, not the absolute level — and the economy has gotten better in some ways over the past year, though obviously not by a lot. On the other, people do remember the crisis of 2008, which they still blame on Bush, and remain willing to cut Obama substantial slack.

....

And let me add a speculation: I suspect that in the end Obamacare is turning out to be a big plus, even though it has always had ambivalent polling. The fact is that Obama can point to a big achievement that will survive if he is reelected, perish if he isn’t; health insurance for 50 million or so Americans (30 million from the ACA, another 20 who would lose coverage if Romney/Ryan Medicaid cuts happen) is enough to cure people of the notion that it doesn’t matter who wins. NYT

For fun, here's Romney's business town hall. The event had a few rabid ones, especially the last business guy. He gave the usual rightwing talking points.
Romney starts out talking about springs. zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz. A free advertisement for one of his supporters, then he prattles on about China, where he bought a factory when he was with Bain and invested there as well. It's odd that Mitt talks about manufacturing at all.
The message of Mike Rowe, the Dirty Jobs guy, is a democrat message. An audience of Obama supporters would've enjoyed his message. I wonder if Mitt knew that. Rowe and the panel got free advertisement. The business people patted themselves on that back and insinuated that Obama hates capitalism. You know, the usual.
Mitt says thank you a lot, after each applause.

All of the polls keep showing Obama with a lead that's widening. But in typical republican style (they get their news from Fox News, after all) they've created new polling system where Romney is winning by up to 11 points!

Even Gallup has Obama up by three. It's been dead even for months. More important is the state polling. Florida is a must win for Mitt.
Three new polls released just today:

President Obama now holds his largest leads to date in Florida, Ohio and Pennsylvania, according to three new CBS News/New York Times/Quinnipiac University polls released early Wednesday. The polls all show Obama easily clearing the critical 50-percent threshold in each state, largely as a result of his commanding advantage among female voters.
Obama leads Republican nominee Mitt Romney by 9 points in Florida, 10 points in Ohio and 12 points in Pennsylvania. The three states together combine to award 67 electoral votes, and no candidate has won the presidency without claiming at least two of them since 1960. National Journal

Perhaps Romney and the GOP should consider that we, the people, don't wish to be treated so offensively by people who want to lead us (especially when there's this). Every time I see this video I want to stomp on his feet and pull his hair:

Same for this one. I'm sure Mitt has been wonderful to his family and his grandkids, a real provider. Money matters a lot to Mitt. The private Mitt seems like a decent guy. There's something wrong with the public Mitt. There's something wrong with his motivations. He's not fighting for the right reasons or the right people. That probably has a lot to do with his position of privilege: